This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.
The contamination of ground water by methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) or organic solvents such as 1,4-dioxane is a concern throughout the United States. Contamination usually results from surface spills or leaks at storage facilities. Techniques currently employed to remediate this contamination include air stripping using high air to water ratios followed by incineration, adsorption onto surfaces such as activated carbon, chemical treatment with Fenton's reagent and hydrogen peroxide, and biodegradation. All of these remediation schemes can be costly and time-consuming. The chemical inertness of ethers in general and MTBE (and Dioxane) in particular makes remediation of these chemical solutions both expensive and difficult to apply to large systems. These compounds are highly soluble in water, chemically very stable, and difficult to remove from water once they are introduced. Activated carbon can be employed to ether contaminated water but the bed life is diminished by as much as 75%. Air stripping is costly and not very effective due to the high solubility of MTBE and Dioxane in water. Bioremediation has also proven to be ineffective as these compounds inhibit the growth of anaerobic bacteria. While these standard treatment regimens are adequate on a small scale, such as a single residence or building, they cannot be scaled up to the point where they are applicable for larger applications, such as a municipal water system. There is therefore an unmet need for novel remediation techniques to address the problems posed by these compounds.